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2009 Toronto Blue Jays season
The 2009 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 33rd in Major League Baseball, and the twentieth season of play at the Rogers Centre. The team was managed by Cito Gaston, who took over the team midway through 2008. After 8 years as General Manager, J. P. Ricciardi was fired on the second-last day of the season, having failed yet again to guide the team to the playoffs. He was replaced by Assistant General Manager Alex Anthopoulos. It was also known to be a very disappointing season as the Jays started out with a record of 27-14, good enough for first place in the division as well as ranking in the top 3 for most power rankings at the time. They would, however be swept by the Red Sox at Fenway Park from May 19 to May 21. This road trip proved to be a pivotal turn around in the season for Toronto as they then went on to get swept in Baltimore and Atlanta, bringing the losing streak to 9 straight games and ultimately ending with a losing season (75 wins and 87 losses), 28.0 games behind the division lead, and 20.0 games behind the wild card spot, repeating their fourth-place finish from the previous year. It was the first time that Toronto had finished with a losing record since 2005, when they finished 80-82. Offseason Front office reorganisation Ted Rogers, the founder of Rogers Communications and the Blue Jays' owner, died at the age of 75 on December 2, 2008, at his home in Toronto. Rogers purchased the Blue Jays in 2000, hoping to lead the franchise to its first playoff berth since the club last won the World Series in 1993. The team continues to be owned and operated by Rogers Blue Jays Baseball Partnership, a division of Rogers Communications. Prior to Rogers' death, the team named Paul Beeston as interim president of baseball operations and chief operating officer replacing retiring president Paul Godfrey. The first employee in Toronto Blue Jays history, Beeston served in the same capacity with the organization from 1989 to 1997. Soon after being introduced on October 14, 2008, Beeston began a significant reorganization of the baseball operations of the club. In the wake of the global financial crisis and the loss of advertising revenue, the team let go of several employees from its media division on December 2. On January 21, 2009, assistant general manager Bart Given was also dismissed to keep "costs down" for the upcoming season according to the team. Additions were made to the scouting department, including the hiring of pro scouts Roy Smith, Steve Springer and four others. Player transactions The most significant change from the 2008 team was the departure of pitcher A. J. Burnett, who filed for free agency and signed a contract with the New York Yankees. Shaun Marcum (elbow), Casey Janssen (shoulder) and Dustin McGowan (labrum) started the season on the disabled list. Janssen has since returned, Getting a loss in his season debut vs the Braves, which the Jays lost 4-3. Retentions For the twelfth consecutive season the organization avoided going to an arbitration hearing, re-signing the five arbitration eligible players on the team. The team and relievers Brandon League (one year/$640K), Jeremy Accardo (one year/$900K), Jason Frasor (one year/$1.45M), Brian Tallet (one year/$1.025M) and Shawn Camp (one year/$750K) along with infielder Jose Bautista (one year/$2.4M) all came to terms. The team also picked up the club option held on catcher Rod Barajas. Departures On November 5, 2008, pitcher A. J. Burnett opted out of the remaining two years of his five year contract, ending months of speculation that the starter was planning to leave Toronto. Burnett, who in 2008 led the team in strikeouts and won 18 games, went on to sign with the division rival New York Yankees on December 18. None of the five major league free agents from the Blue Jays' 2008 roster were tendered contracts. Catcher Gregg Zaun ended his five-year tenure in Toronto and signed a one-year deal with the rival Baltimore Orioles. Outfielder Brad Wilkerson (Boston), relief pitcher John Parrish (Orioles), and infielder Hector Luna (Los Angeles (NL)) all signed minor league contracts elsewhere, while outfielder Kevin Mench signed a one-year deal with the Hanshin Tigers of Japan's Nippon League. Minor league pitching prospect Jean Machi, who had been on the forty-man roster, was also released by the club in November. Another major departure, third baseman Scott Rolen, was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for personal reasons. Arrivals The Blue Jays, faced with financial hardships, the fall of the Canadian dollar against the American dollar and a smaller budget, did not opt to make any major impact moves. Towards the end of spring training, they did however sign Kevin Millar to a one-year deal. Millar is known as a solid player to have in the clubhouse and would find time playing the DH and utility infield. However, with the trade of Scott Rolen to the Cincinnati Reds, the Blue Jays welcomed infielder Edwin Encarnacion, relief pitcher Josh Roenicke and a minor league pitching prospect. ''Pitchers'' Two starters recovering from major shoulder surgery would have an opportunity to claim rotation slots with the club coming out of spring training. Former All-Star starter Matt Clement, who spent an injury riddled 2008 season with St. Louis was signed on December 12. Left-handed starter Mike Maroth, who last pitched in the majors in 2007 with St. Louis, was inked to a minor league deal on December 30. Two former first overall draft picks were also acquired by the club. 2002 top selection Bryan Bullington was claimed off waivers from Cleveland in October. The Jays also traded for 2004 number one choice Matt Bush in February. Bush had previously been in the Padres organisation. The team imported fourteen-year Nippon League veteran Ken Takahashi from Japan. Toronto claimed southpaw Brian Burres (Baltimore), and reliever T. J. Beam (Pittsburgh) off waivers. The club also re-signed Dirk Hayhurst in February, days after releasing the former waiver claim. ''Position players'' Former silver slugging catcher Michael Barrett and infielder Kevin Millar were among the prominent additions to the team offensively. Barrett, who missed much of his 2008 season with the Padres due to a facial fracture, is a top candidate to be the Blue Jays backup catcher. Millar, who spent the previous three seasons with Baltimore and hit twenty home runs in 2008, will have an opportunity for a bench or platoon role with the Jays. In January the team signed outfielder Jason Lane (Boston) and infielder Brandon Fahey (Baltimore) to minor league deals. In December the team inked catcher Raul Chavez (Pittsburgh) and designated hitter Randy Ruiz (Minnesota). In October the club announced it signed former Orioles pitcher Adam Loewen and will attempt to convert him to a first baseman. Injuries Starter Shaun Marcum was lost for the 2009 season when he underwent Tommy John surgery in the fall of 2008. The right-hander went under the knife to repair ligaments in his pitching elbow, and is tentatively expected to be back for the Jays' 2010 spring training. Pitcher Casey Janssen who missed all of 2008 due to shoulder problems was expected to compete for a rotation spot, but was put on the 15-day disabled list just before the season began. Starter Dustin McGowan who is recovering from right labrum surgery is expected to rejoin the club sometime in May. On April 23, the Blue Jays placed starting pitcher Ricky Romero and closer B. J. Ryan on the 15-day disabled list. Romero was suffering from a right oblique strain, while Ryan was sent to see a specialist for a tight left trapezius muscle.Ryan has since returned, but not as the closer. On June 9, it was announced that Jesse Litsch will undergo season-ending ligament replacement ("Tommy John") surgery. Broadcasts The Jays' flagship station for radio is The FAN 590, which has all 162 regular season games. Jerry Howarth and Alan Ashby will call all 162, with Mike Wilner being the third personality. Mike will also host the pregame and postgame show for each game, as long as there is time for it before/after. The Blue Jays' flagship TV station is Rogers Sportsnet, which is airing over 100 games in 2009 for the Jays. The two other stations are both in the TSN network, TSN and TSN2. TSN has coverage starting after they are done with NHL on TSN (during the Stanley Cup Finals, coverage usually starts). From May 19–21, the two Jays stations were occupied with hockey and TSN2 airs the Jays in TSN's place. With Sportsnet taking care of the annual Memorial Cup, and TSN covering the NHL conference finals, TSN2 was open, and took in at the time, the biggest series of the Jays' young season. Rod Black and Pat Tabler did not cover this series though, TSN2 broadcast NESN coverage. TSN2 had the September 13 game versus the Tigers and will air the Jays home closer versus the Mariners on September 27. Untelevised games can be seen on JaysVision on Rogers Cable (digital only). Otherwise, the viewer must subscribe to MLB Extra Innings, which gets the feed from the opposing team's station. MLB Extra Innings is available on satellite and digital cable. Regular season Season summary The Jays began the year with a schedule that had them playing teams from the Central and West divisions for their first 24 games in April. Adam Lind slugged out an opening day record 6 RBI, and the Jays pummeled the Tigers, giving Roy Halladay the win. They went on to win the first 6 series of the season, and finished April with a 15-9 record, tied with the Red Sox for first in the AL East. The first game against the New York Yankees occurred on May 12, in a marquee matchup of Roy Halladay versus former teammate A. J. Burnett. Not only did the Jays win 5-1, but Halladay recorded his first complete game of the season, while giving Burnett his first loss on the year. The Jays drew a crowd of over 43,000 fans; the first time the dome got a full house other than opening night since 2006, when 50,014 came to see the Jays lose to the Yankees on July 22. However, the remaining two games of the series were won by the Yankees, making this the first series lost by the Jays at home this season. They followed this with a series sweep of the Chicago White Sox, at which time the Jays had the best record (27-14) in the American League, but this was followed by a disastrous road trip to Boston, Atlanta and Baltimore during which the Jays lost 9 straight games, tying their longest away-game losing streak since a nine-game run in May 2007. This left the Jays at 27-23, behind Boston and the Yankees by 1.5 games. Since then the Blue Jays have continued to struggle, the poor hitting of previous top performers such as Rios and Wells has caused problems with getting runs when runners are in scoring position, while their starting pitching has suffered greatly from injuries. Heading into the all-star break the Blue Jays were 11 games behind Boston in the AL East standings, and 8 games behind the Yankees for the wild card spot. Throughout the year, Roy Halladay had pitched in many terrific games including a one hit shutout of the New York Yankees in September. Later in the series, the Blue Jays would score eight runs in one inning against New York most notably during an Air Show. Roy Halladay and Aaron Hill were named to the American League All-Star team. Halladay was the starting pitcher, and Hill started the game at second base. Firing of JP Ricciardi On October 3, the J. P. Ricciardi era ended in Toronto. When he took over in 2002, he guaranteed a playoff berth; the Jays never even came close to a playoffs berth, never finishing better than 10 games behind the top of the division during Ricciardi's reign. After a promising start to 2009, the Jays faltered, and JP publicized the topic of a Roy Halladay trade, which many Jays fans disapproved. The reason of the firing was reported that Ricciardi told Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports a day before the firing, in which the Blue Jays players were all against Cito Gaston. A day later, Paul Beeston found out about JP leaking the information to the media, and promptly fired him. Assistant GM Alex Anthopoulos took over instantly. Season standings AL East Detailed record | width=50% valign="top" | |} Vs. opponents 2009 Draft picks Source The 2009 MLB Draft was held on June 9–11. The Blue Jays had a first round pick, along with one compensation pick. The Blue Jays also had two picks in the third round. * * The Blue Jays received the 37th pick as compensation for loss of free agent A.J. Burnett Roster Game log : |- | May 14–15 (Home 11–4, Road 3–11) |- | June 12–14 (Home 6–11, Road 6–3) |- | July 8–16 (Home 5–5, Road 3–11) |- | August 10–16 (Home 5–9, Road 5–7) |- | September 16–14 (Home 10–5, Road 6–9) |- | October 0–3 (Home 0–0, Road 0–3) |} Player stats Batting Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases . Excludes batting by pitchers (interleague games). Pitching Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts Updated through July 21, 2009. Honours and awards All-Star Game *Aaron Hill - 2B (Starter) *Roy Halladay - P (Starter) Awards *Aaron Hill - AL Comeback Player of the Year Award *Aaron Hill - Silver Slugger-2B *Adam Lind Silver Slugger-DH References External links *2009 Toronto Blue Jays season at Baseball Reference *2009 Toronto Blue Jays team page at www.baseball-almanac.com *2009 Toronto Blue Jays Official Site Category:Toronto Blue Jays seasons Toronto Blue Jays